Cameron under attack over EU membership vote

British Prime Minister David Cameron was accused on Friday (10 January) of grandstanding to anti-Europe voters and caving in to Eurosceptic party members with his backing of a referendum on European Union membership.

Trailing in the polls before an election next year, Cameron has thrown his weight behind efforts to guarantee a referendum before 2017. The opposition Labour party is fighting the move.

On Friday, senior parliamentarian Peter Mandelson, a former European commissioner, accused Cameron of being "taken hostage" by the sceptics in his party and of pandering to supporters of the anti-EU UK Independence Party (UKIP).

"My message to the government is 'stop grandstanding to the UKIP gallery'," Mandelson said during a debate in the upper house of parliament. "My experience has made me decidedly pro-reform of the EU, but not in favour of a pig-in-a-poke referendum in this country designed to bridge the divisions within the Conservative Party."

Cameron, leader of the Conservative-led coalition government, wants Britain to remain within Europe but is trying to renegotiate the country's role in the 28-nation bloc.

"Today the EU Referendum Bill moves to the House of Lords. Join my call for an in-out referendum by the end of 2017 at http://www.letbritaindecide.com, " Cameron tweeted.

The push for a referendum has helped unite the fractious Conservatives, after divisions over Europe challenged Cameron's authority last year. Even so, the party has lost voters to UKIP, whose leader, Nigel Farage, has tapped into concerns over immigration and the impact of EU membership on British life.

The issues of EU membership and immigration are tangled together politically, particularly since the start of the year. Beginning in 2014, restrictions ended on employment in the UK for citizens of Bulgaria and Romania, both EU members.

A YouGov survey on Friday showed UKIP, which calls for withdrawal from the EU, has around 13% of public support even though it holds no seats in parliament.

Labour is leading opinion polls with 38% support, putting it six percentage points ahead of the Conservatives. It does not rule out a referendum in the future but says the 2017 guarantee would hurt investment and weaken Britain's economy.

Labour could block passage of the legislation in the upper house with the help of the Liberal Democrat party, the junior partner in the coalition. The bill is moving through an unorthodox legislative channel that imposes strict time limits on debates. It must be passed by the upper house before 28 February.

Even if passed, legislation on a referendum could be reversed if the Conservatives lose the election due in May 2015.

Background

A potential British exit from the European Union has come at the top of the political agenda after Prime Minister David Cameron said that Britain must use the upheaval created by the eurozone crisis to forge a new relationship with the European Union.

In January 2013, he promised Britons a clear in/out referendum on the UK’s European Union membership if he was re-elected in 2015, based on a renegotiated EU treaty.

With the onset of the eurozone crisis and the need for further economic and political integration, Cameron's Conservatives have increasingly sought to loosen Britainss ties and asked to renegotiate the Union's treaties. Some favour an outright British exit from the EU with a turn towards strengthening economic ties with Commonwealth countries and the United States.

Britain has negotiated a number of opt-outs from key EU policy areas since its accession in 1973. The country is not part of the eurozone and has not signed the free-border Schengen Treaty and does not want to abide by a number of EU police and judicial cooperation rules.

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Comments

Posted by: evad666 (not verified)Mon, 13/01/2014 - 17:58

If there really is no democratic deficit in Brussels why does Luxembourg appear to have so many posts in the commission?
the net suggests Luxembourg has 11, Holland has 8,
Ireland has 9, Greece has 8, France has 17, Germany has 14, Belgium has 9 and the UK has 13 surely now we have 29 member states either all nations should have a baseline of 1 or all should have a baseline of 1 and an additional commissioner per % of GDP, or % of population.
exactly how does it work?

Posted by: Otto (not verified)Tue, 14/01/2014 - 15:11

So, only 13% of Britons clearly support withdrawal from the EU, and 38% want to stay.
This is way fewer than europhobes on this site love to think.
So much of the factoid "every Briton hate the EU and want Brexit badly".
Can't wait for the results of the 2017 referendum. I foresee a lot of tears in the UKIP office;)

Posted by: tony a (not verified)Tue, 14/01/2014 - 16:19

"A YouGov survey" was the clue Otto, YouGov is the government ProEU propaganda site owned by Barrenness Ashtons husband & heavily PRO EU & politically weighted in favor of the three main party's.
The main independent polls from November put UKIP on 20%(Opinium poll) & the (ComRes poll) has UKIP on 19%. Survation’s Poll just released show UKIP now on 25%. At that rate of growth UKIP are set to wipe the floor with LIBLABCON in the 2014 European elections & will be the main political party in the UK by 2017.
This is why CaMoron, Millipede & Cleggy are making so much noise about Immigration & benefits. They have seen the political winds have changed & are in total fear that UKIP will sweep to power in the European elections leaving them out in the political wilderness.

Posted by: tony a (not verified)Tue, 14/01/2014 - 16:20

"A YouGov survey" was the clue Otto, YouGov is the government ProEU propaganda site owned by Barrenness Ashtons husband & heavily PRO EU & politically weighted in favor of the three main party's.
The main independent polls from November put UKIP on 20%(Opinium poll) & the (ComRes poll) has UKIP on 19%. Survation’s Poll just released show UKIP now on 25%. At that rate of growth UKIP are set to wipe the floor with LIBLABCON in the 2014 European elections & will be the main political party in the UK by 2017.
This is why CaMoron, Millipede & Cleggy are making so much noise about Immigration & benefits. They have seen the political winds have changed & are in total fear that UKIP will sweep to power in the European elections leaving them out in the political wilderness.

Posted by: Charles_M (not verified)Tue, 14/01/2014 - 19:48

Otto - there are many more outside of UKIP (including Labour supporters) who would be happy to leave the EU - the total is around 30% for unconditional exit, 30% for exit unless there are big changes, 15% don't knows, and 25% who want to stay in. You should do a little research before making daft assumptions.

Posted by: an european (not verified)Thu, 16/01/2014 - 11:04

Posted by: Barry Davies (not verified)Thu, 16/01/2014 - 12:50

As ever Otto gets it completely wrong, and an european is on our side with wanting us to leave but has to try to make out that we would lose out and the eussr would benefit, we would be better off out and the eussr will start to really creak at the joins when we go.

Posted by: Barry Davies (not verified)Thu, 16/01/2014 - 12:50

As ever Otto gets it completely wrong, and an european is on our side with wanting us to leave but has to try to make out that we would lose out and the eussr would benefit, we would be better off out and the eussr will start to really creak at the joins when we go.

Posted by: tony a (not verified)Thu, 16/01/2014 - 13:54

Indeed !
Can't wait to see the UK leavin' totally the E.U. including the free trade!
Why waiting !¨
By : an european
Free trade works both ways & Britain is Europe's largest trading partner, The market place for 22% of all Eurozone output. Their is no question it would hurt Britain to leave but the reverse effect on the Eurozone will be devastating & more than likely fatal to the EURO.

Posted by: Barry Davies (not verified)Thu, 16/01/2014 - 14:22

Well only 13% of our trade is with the eussr and that is a negative trade balance we buy more than we sell so it will be far greater harm to the eussr than it will to us if only we could wave Bye Bye now instead of the jam tomorrow BS from the liar Camoron.